Afghanistan Closes Schools Due To H1N1

 

# 3974

 

 

Six days ago Afghanistan declared the pandemic to be an emergency (see Afghanistan Declares H1N1 Emergency), warning that 1 infected person in 80 die from the pandemic virus.  As many as 70,000 deaths.

While those estimates may turn out to be high, there is no doubt that developing nations have graver concerns with this pandemic virus than do countries with access to antivirals, antibiotics, and hospital care.

The challenges facing developing nations in this pandemic are many and very serious (see A Tale of Two Pandemics).   In order to stem the spread of the virus, Afghanistan has now decided to close schools for most of the month of November.

This report from the VOA.

 

Afghanistan Closes Schools Due to Increasing H1N1 Cases

By Sean Maroney

Kabul
08 November 2009

The Afghan government has closed the country's schools and universities for most of November in response to an increased number of H1N1 flu cases. Since July, officials have diagnosed nearly 350 people with the virus. There have been a total of 772 confirmed cases, and 10 people have died.

 

Afghan officials say most of the flu cases have been in Kabul, Parwan and the provinces of Herot, Kandahar, Ningrahar and Bamayan.

 

Afghanistan's Health Minister Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi says only Afghans so far have died from the virus.
He says the basic reason for the deaths has been because the victims went to treatment centers too late. He says most of the foreigners with the virus have been with the NATO forces, and they were able to start their treatments early, which helped their chances for survival.

 

The United Nations World Health Organization representative for Afghanistan, Peter Graass, says that despite the last eight years of medical improvements in the country, there is still a lot more work left to do.

 

"Somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of all Afghans have access within two hours of walking or traveling to basic health services, so that means that under the best of circumstances we have a very sizable - still very sizable - proportion of the population that is basically missing out," he said.

 

He says the Afghan health services are reasonably prepared to deal with the H1N1 outbreak. But he adds that officials believe the actual number of cases is much higher and are preparing for scenarios in which a fourth of the country contracts the flu virus.

 

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Afghanistan Declares H1N1 Emergency

 

 

# 3931

 

There is little doubt that the impact of the H1N1 virus on developing countries will be greater than on nations where a modern medical facilities, antiviral and antibiotic drugs, and vaccines are available.

 

Today, the Health Ministry of war-torn Afghanistan has declared an H1N1 emergency, and has issued what seems an extraordinary warning: 

 

That Afghanistan could see 1 infected person in 80 die from the pandemic virus.  As many as 70,000 deaths.

 

While that may be an excessively high estimate, Afghanistan lacks the kind of medical infrastructure that quite literally keeps the death rate low in developed countries.  

 

According to the SAVE THE CHILDREN  website on Afghanistan:

• One Afghan child in five dies, often of a preventable cause before her or his fifth birthday
• 85% of women give birth at home with untrained attendants
• 30% of healthcare facilities are without female health professionals: doctors, nurses and midwives

 

Add to that a predominantly young population (44% under age 15),  various comorbid conditions (malnutrition, malaria, etc.), and generally harsh winters and you have a recipe for a lot of pandemic influenza deaths.

 

Whether it will rise to the numbers quoted in the article below . . . well, hopefully not.   

 

But the challenges facing Afghanistan, and scores of other developing nations less well equipped to deal with a pandemic are many and very serious (see A Tale of Two Pandemics).

 

This report from Reuters.

 

 

Afghanistan declares H1N1 emergency, shuts schools

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan declared a health emergency on Monday to help the government prevent the rapid spread of H1N1 and ordered schools closed for three weeks as part of measures against the deadly virus.

 

The government has also advised the public against gatherings such as weddings in enclosed areas, after Afghanistan had its first death attributed to the virus last week.

 

Nearly 350 positive cases of H1N1 have been detected among foreigners and Afghans and several hundred more people are suspected to be infected, a public health ministry spokesman said.

 

The positive cases, 271 reported among expatriates and the rest among Afghans, reflect a dramatic rise in infections registered in recent months, Farid Raaid told Reuters.

 

"We have declared a health emergency state on the basis of which all private (and) governmental educational institutions as well as kindergartens have been ordered to close for three weeks."

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A reminder that relief agencies, both here in the United States, and around the world, could use your support.

 

There has never been a better time to volunteer to help with the American Red Cross, The Medical Reserve Corps, CERT, or your Neighborhood watch.

 

And if your pocketbook can stand it, there are organizations like the Red Cross, Red Crescent, CARE, Save The Children, UNICEF, and others that could use your financial support as well.